A Petal In The Grass
by Winnieflutters
Summary: ONESHOT. Haruno Sakura was trained with one purpose in mind; to match Namikaze Naruto. Chosen from an orphanage at a young age and secretly trained in the Foundation as a spy, she is prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect her village, even if that means killing the prodigal child. For every step he takes, she will take a step behind. Her kunai poised at his back.


**Hello all! I got bored and this idea just sprang to mind: 'What if Sakura was a ROOT shinobi?' It's most likely because I am currently writing a fic called 'Midnight Sun' where Naruto is a ROOT shinobi and I have slightly tied this One Shot into that but that does not mean this small chapter will affect that story in anyway (not to say that it won't though), which I will post a link for at the bottom. Anyway, to anyone who finds this: I hope you like it.**

* * *

Shimura Danzō leant back in his chair as he considered the shinobi knelt before him; her ruby red cloak sprawled out around her like a pool of freshly spilt blood and her soft pink hair delicately framed her pale face, contrasting greatly with the sharpness in her emerald gaze.

Sakura.

"Rise, Shinobi."

She lifted herself up to stand attentively in front of him and Danzō couldn't help but smirk as he considered the brilliance of his plan. He had chosen Sakura from an orphanage on the outskirts of the village at around about the same time he had inducted Naruto into the Foundation. At the time he hadn't been very convinced that she would come in useful but all these years later and things were unfolding beautifully.

He had assigned Naruto to Team 7 to watch the Uchiha brat and now he would assign Sakura to watch Naruto.

It was perfect. Naruto was his prized shinobi and he had entrusted the boy with the task of restoring the village to it's former glory. Armed with all the knowledge ROOT has to offer along with combat training from a skilled S-class shinobi, the boy was proving a worthy investment for the old war hawk.

But what if Naruto betrayed him? As much as Danzō was counting on Naruto to be the change that the village so desperately needed, he was a shrewd man and wouldn't put complete faith in one person without a back up plan.

That is where agent Sakura came in.

She would observe the Namikaze heir and if it ever came down to it, she would kill him.

Danzō had arranged it so that Naruto would share a ROOT sensei with the girl without him ever being made aware of it, her training would mirror his as much as possible and she would learn everything that there was to know about Namikaze Naruto.

She was Danzō's failsafe.

His dark, narrowed eyes met her wide, bright pair and at last he addressed the patiently waiting kunoichi.

"You have done well Sakura, now that you are a member of Team 7 you will be able to keep an even closer eye on Naruto and, if possible, spark a false friendship with him. Your persona as the hopelessly lovestruck child has served you well all these years, but now you must begin to show some development so that you can get closer to my young protégé. You must not fail. Dismissed."

The pinkette nodded to her master and disappeared from his presence in a shunshin. She reappeared in a private corridor that led to her training quarters as well as her private exit from the base and was slightly startled to find her sensei waiting for her there, leaning against the wall and fixing her with a curious stare.

As she began to lose herself in the woman's deep violet gaze, Sakura was snapped out of it by the soft sound of her sensei's whisper.

"Come Sakura, how about a quick spar before you return to your civilian home?"

The young girl's face held a gentle smile as she followed her sensei to the dojo. Watching mesmerized as the woman's blood red locks swayed behind her, her smile turned into a sinister smirk as she pictured the day she would get to spill Namikaze Naruto's blood.

"All in due time." She whispered, not missing the mischievous look her sensei shot her over her shoulder. Hearing the red head's gentle chuckle, though, she couldn't help but laugh quietly to herself as she considered how perfectly she had played her role all these years.

* * *

Naruto flopped over onto his bed and stared up at the grey ceiling, he had finally done it. He was a Genin of Konoha now.

A Genin. Him. It made him angry to think that he would have to take less missions as a Jōnin-level shinobi of ROOT because he would be out with a kami-forsaken Genin squad half the time doing kami-knows what kind of bullshit missions.

He thought back to the team introductions on the roof of the academy earlier that day and his nails tore through the sheets he hadn't realised he had been clenching.

"_I swear someone up there is trying to punish me for being a shinobi of the Foundation. I follow orders and get myself placed on a team with that prick Sasuke and as if to add salt to my wound I get that pink-haired banshee thrown in too."_

Rolling off the side of the bed, he pulled himself up and made his way into the bathroom. As he reached the mirror, he began to think about how much his life had changed over the years.

"_Everything has always been about doing what's best for the village and now that idea has haunted me to the point that I've begun to lose myself in the chaos of it all."_

He thought about how he had risen through the ranks of the Foundation, how he had earned the respect of everyone he came into contact with within the organisation.

"_It hasn't always been easy and it certainly hasn't always felt right but being a ROOT shinobi has taught me so much about the world."_

So why did he feel like he had thrown away all his achievements to start out from the bottom all over again?

A Genin.

He snorted as he stared into his own eyes, ROOT didn't even have an equivalent to Genin in it's ranking system. You weren't a shinobi in the eyes of the Foundation until you were at least the equivalent to Chūnin-level. How pitiful was that?

"_The worst part is how exposed I feel having to act as a regular shinobi of the village, I've spent so long working from the shadows that it feels unnatural to even wear this headband."_

He splashed some water on his face as he tried to clear his mind for a moment but he couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that hung over him like a death reaper.

"_As an agent of the Foundation I'm always looking over my shoulder but there's something about being on Team 7 that makes me feel like I have a blade pressed against my back."_

* * *

Their swords were drawn. The room was silent except for a small water fountain on the far side of the room. They circled one another as each waited for the other to make a move.

The rippling sound of the water seemed to grow louder as each of their hearts began to pound faster.

The older woman grinned at the determined expression on her students face, some things never changed.

The small girl darted forward and kicked off the ground, pirouetting in mid air as she attempted to slash horizontally at her opponent but she was powerfully blocked as the red head's sword deftly met her own.

"Too obvious. You should know better Sakura." Though her sensei chided her, the woman could tell that the young kunoichi had more to offer.

Forcing the pinkette back, she leant back on one foot and prepared her defensive stance before beckoning the girl forward with her free hand.

She did not have to wait long.

Sakura shot forward and was about to deliver an upwards strike before she suddenly dropped low and tried to sweep her sensei's feet out from beneath her, the red head had anticipated the feint though and leapt over her students head before spinning round to strike her from behind.

Their swords met once more and soon they were engaged in a deadly dance of swords, neither gaining the upper hand and neither relenting.

The rose and the cherry blossom twirled around the room to the sound of the fountain, lost in the moment as their blades continued to meet at a deadly speed.

Before long they were blown backwards from one another and as their eyes met they knew that their time was up.

Sakura desperately wanted to continue the dance but watching her sensei's sword vanish from sight, she had to accept that it was over.

They each moved forward until they were but a small distance apart before bowing deeply to one another as a sign of respect.

"My how you have grown Sakura. Only a few years ago you would have been a panting heap after such a spar, yet here you stand before me as an upcoming Genin of Konoha and a recently promoted Jōnin level kunoichi of the Foundation. I must admit that I am proud of how you have developed."

Sakura was stunned. The red head was not known for her kind words and this was the first time she had truly acknowledged Sakura as a worthy student.

"Kyoko-sensei, I-"

"-Need not speak. I have already spoken with Naruto tonight and it seems your _fangirl_ act is really starting to grind his gears. I have trained you both for so long that sometimes I forget that you do not truly know one another. I might be the only person that really knows you but do not think that makes me your ally, Sakura."

"Sensei I don't-"

"-I will not choose a side. You are both my students and I have trained you both to the best of my ability- but I will not interfere. It is likely that one of you will end up killing the other and although that is something I have known from the beginning, I cannot bring myself to tip the scales in anyone's favour. If I'm honest, I am actually hoping that you two are able to become allies some day."

"That's not-"

"-You have been trained to think of Naruto as your one true enemy so that, in the event he turns traitor, you will be in a prime position to find him out and take him out. Consider this though, what if he does not betray the village? Will you be able to stop fantasising about his death then? You must remain open to the possibilities Sakura, single-mindedness will earn you nothing more than an early grave. I would not want that."

The pink-haired girl could not tear her gaze away from her sensei's as she replayed the woman's words over in her head. It was the older woman that eventually broke off eye contact though and turned to leave the room, Sakura was frozen in place as she watched her sensei disappear down another corridor, her flowing red locks swaying behind her.

Sometime later she moved over to the fountain and rested her hands on the soft marble, leaning over to meet her own reflection she could hear her sensei's voice like a piercing whisper in the back of her head.

"_In Root, you have no name. You have no feelings. You have no past. You have no future. There is only the mission."_

Perhaps Naruto would fulfil Danzō-sama's desires and remain loyal, perhaps he would rise to the title of Hokage and implement the teachings of the Foundation into the general practices of the village. Perhaps he would grow to be a fearsome leader that the other villages would bow down to.

Possibilities did not concern Sakura though. She had only her mission. If that mission changed then 'perhaps' she would embrace the idea of him as a comrade but otherwise she would continue to stalk him and to deceive him, waiting to strike like a snake in the grass.

No, a snake had its tells. She would be more inconspicuous than that, she would be like a shadow in the night, like a raindrop in the sea.

Like a petal in the grass.

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**The end. So what did you think? If you liked that you might also like 'Midnight Sun' so here's a link to that: s/10142829/1/Midnight-Sun**

**Please feel free to review below.**

**Winnieflutters**


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